Director Abby Horton helms satirical campaign for Kraft
The series of parody commercials produced by SLMBR PRTY plays on foodie TV tropes.
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SLMBR PRTY’s Abby Horton directs a series of films to launch a brand refresh for KRAFT, introducing the first changes to the brand’s iconic logo in more than ten years, along with new packaging, social channels, and its first-ever unified creative platform “It’s not art. It’s KRAFT.”
Created by Wieden+Kennedy and produced by SLMBR PRTY, the campaign’s cinematic framing and tongue-in-cheek dialogue all play on familiar tropes from popular food shows to highlight the everyday utility of KRAFT.
In a perfectly blended satire, the films utilise foodie culture’s instantly recognisable cinematic language by framing everyday home cooking with dramatic lighting and sweeping classical music subverts. Modelled after film craft typically reserved for Michelin-star culinary experiences, Horton and Director of Photography Matthew Chavez deploy these techniques for snacks, sandwiches, and other foods made better with a dollop of mayonnaise. Chavez comes to this film from his previous work at Netflix’s Chef’s Table, bringing unique insight on precisely emulating the same look and feel of the parodied material.
Kraft – Not Chef's Table Mayo
Kraft – Not Chef's Table Ranch
The first of these films tracks someone making himself a snack of baby carrots and KRAFT ranch dressing, claiming he did not invent this masterpiece but reimagined it. Next, erudite narration plays in the background while a woman makes a simple BLT with KRAFT mayo, ending with the narrator realising they’re filming the wrong person, she isn’t a chef!
Then, Horton shot three films in vertical 9x16, all starring a screaming chef who shows up to yell at these home cooks, which registers as tonally amiss considering he’s praising them for deploying easy-to-use and delicious KRAFT products.
“With the chef character, we all know the incessant shouting is performative,” explains Horton of the latter films. “He’s programmed to yell and can’t translate how pleased he is with the KRAFT products, so he maintains that same outraged energy level while simultaneously praising the home cooks. From the first script read, I knew these films would be hilarious, and I’m very thankful that KRAFT allowed me to put my directorial spin on them. I love parody and satire, which foodie TV is ripe for, so this was a real treat.”
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